


Change your routine

by Teacupsandbutterscotch



Series: Coffee, sir? [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coffee Shops, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-21
Packaged: 2017-12-20 22:50:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/892820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teacupsandbutterscotch/pseuds/Teacupsandbutterscotch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just your average coffee shop au, including a door that gets in the way, migraine inducing panneling, and far too much coffee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Change your routine

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction ever, so please forgive me if its not very good. Thank you to my amazing beta Annie.

Merlin barely avoided walking into the glass door of the coffee shop. If anyone asked, he would avidly deny that it was because of the new- bloody gorgeous- barista but since nobody else was actually around to ask, he could admit to himself that he had been a tiny bit distracted.

Maybe a little more than a tiny bit.

Door successfully navigated, Merlin headed over to the counter and thought that possibly, maybe, he could get through a conversation with a good looking man and not make a complete fool of himself. Although that did depend on said good looking man being unaware of Merlin’s issue with the door.

‘Hey, can I get a latte please?’

‘Size?’

‘Grande.’ Merlin waited while the man- Arthur, according to his nametag- made his coffee, gently tapping his finger tips against the counter. The walls of the coffee shop were green, with panelling and lines which were just far away enough to be blurring in the corner of Merlin’s eye. It was starting to give him a headache. When Arthur finally turned back around and presented his coffee, he just wanted to get out of the shop and back to his flat, where the walls were a nice, conformist white, and didn’t make his head hurt.

‘That’ll be £3.50 please.’ Merlin dug around in his pocket for the change he was sure he’d put in there, and came up with forty pence, some fluff, and a bus ticket from two years ago.

‘Can I pay with card?’

‘You need to be paying over five pounds to be able to use a card, sir, it’s on the sign by the till.’ Merlin could see a hint of a smirk in Arthurs face, and that, coupled with the derisive tone his answer had taken, made him decide that the man, while gorgeous, was obviously a prat.

‘Fine, I’ll have a chocolate cookie as well.’

‘Ok, there you are, sir.’ Merlin paid as quickly as possible, prepared to walk out of the coffee shop in a calm and dignified manner. It was all going very well, Merlin thought, until, just as he was about to open the door to leave, Arthur called out;

‘Be careful with the door this time!’ Merlin turned around, caught the edges of a full blown smirk on Arthurs face, whirled around and left, being careful with the door, thank you very much. So obviously Arthur had noticed his issues with the door on the way in. Fantastic. Merlin stalked through the grey streets of London, vaguely trying to balance his coffee and his cookie, but not particularly caring if he dropped either. It didn’t help matters that Arthur was exactly his type, and probably the best looking man he had seen in months but, Merlin thought to himself, he couldn’t really see Arthur’s body behind the counter. He probably had a pot belly, and weedy legs or something like that. With that cheerful thought in mind, Merlin unlocked his flat, put the cookie on the counter for later, drank the coffee in two gulps, and ran out of the door so he wouldn’t be late for morning lectures.

 

The next week, Merlin walked into the coffee shop to find that it was empty save for himself and Arthur, or the pratty barista, as Merlin thought of him. Not that he did think of him.

‘I see you managed to avoid the door today.’ Arthur said when Merlin got to the counter, the tell tale smirk already forming on his face.

‘I don’t think you’re really meant to talk to customers like that.’

‘It was just a simple observation.’

‘Well then, can I simply observe that you should be taking my order now, instead of commenting on my ability to navigate doors?’

‘Well I was actually commenting on your lack of ability, but sure, what would you like? Same as last week?’ Merlin stared at him. Not only was he being even more of a prat this week, but,

‘You remember my order?’

‘You were my first customer; of course I remember your order. Oh and the door helped as well.’ Arthur winked at him, and turned away to start fiddling with the machine behind the counter.

‘What are you doing?’ Merlin decided he just couldn’t comment on the wink, his morning was already surreal enough.

‘I’m making your coffee.’

‘But I haven’t even ordered it!’

‘Don’t you want a grande latte then?’

‘Well yes, but,’ Merlin trailed off as Arthur, satisfied that he was right, continued to make Merlin’s coffee. And, now that Merlin wasn’t concentrating on the migraine inducing walls, he was vaguely irritated to notice that Arthur had a really lovely arse, his thigh weren’t at all weedy, and there was no sign of a potbelly. Well, irritated may have been a strong word. Interested would probably be better, but Merlin would take that to the grave if he had to.

‘There you go grande latte. Anything else?’

‘No thank you.’ Merlin had brought change with him this time, so he wouldn’t have to pay with card. He paid and was about to walk out, and hopefully figure out what had just happened, when he was interrupted.

‘Do you come here every week?’ Arthur said. Merlin looked back at him, trying to gauge whether he was mocking him, but the expression on his face was unreadable.

‘Most weeks, yeah, if I’m not late for lectures.’ Arthur nodded, and started wiping the counter down, which Merlin took as his cue to leave before it got weirder.

 

Merlin tried to work out in his head just how much of a bad idea this was. Very bad, he decided. It was so bad that it probably deserved capital letters- A Very Bad Idea, or something along those-

‘Ow!’

‘Did you walk into the door again, _Mer_ lin?’ Merlin refused to answer, choosing instead to fling himself down in the nearest chair, hold his head in his hands, and grumble something along the lines of;

‘S’not my fault the door’s so hard to navigate.’

‘Oh stop being a baby, it can’t be that bad.’ Merlin heard shuffling sounds from his left, and looked up to see Arthur walking towards him with an exasperated expression.

‘You don’t have to look at it I’ll be fine, it’s fine, everything-‘

‘Shut up Merlin.’ Arthur peeled Merlin’s hands away from his head and inspected it. He nodded solemnly.

‘Just as I suspected, you have a very worrying case of clumsiness.’ Merlin scowled at him, and Arthur laughed, throwing his head back and exposing his throat. Merlin didn’t stare. Well, only a little bit.

‘Why are in here so early anyway? You’ve never come in before nine o’clock.’

‘I was up early, thought I’d come and sit for a bit.’ Arthur looked at him speculatively, but nodded, and backed away to the counter again, and started making coffee.

‘Can I have a grande latte please?’

‘Already making it Merlin.’ Merlin looked down and smiled at his hands, then started berating himself- ‘sit for a bit’? Really? The whole point of coming here at a ridiculously early time in the morning had been to try and talk to Arthur, work out if he really was as much of a prat as he seemed. Because Merlin suspected that the teasing comments were some sort of weird banter that passed for friendly interaction in Arthurs head. But, he couldn’t really talk to Arthur if he was just going to ‘sit for a bit’, and it was all A Very Bad Idea anyway because people like Arthur were never interested in people like Merlin in his experience.

Merlin put his head in his hands for the second time that morning and groaned, thinking how much better that conversation could have gone.

‘Is your head really that bad?’ Merlin jerked up, to see Arthur standing over him with his coffee in hand, looking concerned.

‘No, no, it’s fine, thank you.’

‘If you’re sure. I might as well sit with you though, seeing as you’re the only customer, and you might collapse from that head wound any second.’ Arthur had a smirk on his face again, only this time Merlin was sure that he was laughing with him, instead of at him.

‘Oh well thank you for your concern. You’re a real knight in shining armour aren’t you?’

‘Why yes I am Merlin, thank you for noticing.’ They grinned at each other, and then lapsed into a comfortable silence, that felt far too familiar to Merlin for how long he had known Arthur.

‘So, what are you studying at uni?’ Arthur asked.

‘Physics.’

‘Sounds like...fun.’

‘Hey! It’s a lot more fun than people give it credit for!’

‘Merlin, I was joking.’

‘Oh.’ Merlin said.  Arthur burst out laughing, and then proceeded to ask Merlin countless questions about uni, so that the next time Merlin looked at the clock almost twenty minutes had gone past.

‘I’d better be going; I’ll be late to lectures otherwise.’

‘Ok. I’ll see you next week then?’

‘Yeah, yeah you will.’ Merlin hurried out of the door, thinking that possibly, the Very Bad Idea hadn’t been so bad after all.

 

Merlin found himself at the coffee shop at least twice a week after that, more if he could find the time.  Most of the time Arthur had Merlin’s coffee ready when Merlin walked in. Actually, there was only one morning when that wasn’t the case, and on that morning Arthur looked so tired, his expression so unreadable that Merlin didn’t comment. He did however nudge his knee against Arthur’s under the table, and was relieved when Arthur gave him a small smile in return, even if it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

 It took roughly three weeks for Arthur to give Merlin his phone number:

‘Just in case you have an incident with another door and you need a knight in shining armour.’

That led to Arthur texting Merlin throughout the day to tell him he was bored, and to late night conversations about whether humans should turn to cannibalism in the event of an apocalypse.

_But how would you cook the people? M_

_Well I’d find some wood and matches, or a flint or something. A_

_But what if you couldn’t light a fire? M_

_Well then I’d eat them raw. A_

_Raw? That’s horrible. M_

_You’re the one who made this conversation about cannibalism Merlin. A_

‘You realise that despite coming to the coffee shop for almost two months solid, you haven’t changed your order yet?’

‘Maybe I’m happy with what I already know I like. Why bother trying something new?’

‘You really never want to try anything new? Nothing at all?’ Merlin was puzzled by the change in Arthur’s tone- it didn’t seem like he was talking about coffee anymore.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I just-never mind. It’s nothing.’

‘Well it can’t be nothing, Arthur, what is it?’ Arthur looked at him for a few seconds, on the verge of saying something, then shook his head and started to get up from the table.

‘Arthur where are you going?’

‘I’ll be back in a minute ok, stay there.’ Arthur went behind the counter, where the display of cakes blocked him from Merlin’s view.

‘Arthur what are you doing?’ Arthur ignored him, but came back a couple of minute’s later, holding a coffee cup in his hand. He set it down on the table in front of Merlin.

‘What is this?’

‘Coffee.’

‘But I already have coffee.’

‘Just, drink it, Merlin. ’ Merlin frowned at the coffee, but picked it up and turned it around so he could drink it. And then stopped. Written on the side of the cup- ‘dinner?’

‘Well?’ Merlin looked up at Arthur, who had his arms folded and looked more uncomfortable than Merlin had ever seen him.

‘Well, I think that it might be time for me to try something new.’ Arthur grinned, wide and brilliant as he understood Merlin’s meaning.

‘You ever had sushi?’


End file.
